“Unwanted pests”???

Many of you are aware that a new zealotry being promoted on the web – print Yellow Pages are the cause for all of mankind’s ills, they suck up resources, are wasteful, they pollute, forests are being ransacked for paper, the books are never being used, they only being used by your 90 year grandmothers, etc., etc., etc., and now, per the label of the picture of this blog discussing more useless regulation being introduced in Seattle – the books are now “un-wanted pests”.

If there is any value in this truly wasteful legislation effort (glad to see phone books are the only thing the citizens of Seattle needed be concerned with), it has been the reaction from many of you in the industry. I think these paper atheists have awakened a sleeping giant.

Case in point – here is commentary I received from Wayne Mulling, the Director of Sales at the Sunshine Pages Directories. I know many of you also feel this way. Isn’t it time to start telling the other side of the story in every community we serve and stop turning the other cheek to these people??

Here’s Wayne’s comments:

I love the part where they call the industry products “un-wanted pests”. Really? We are now Un-wanted pests? It’s amazing to me some of the comments from people who post to blogs like this, comments like: “I hope this sweeps the nation”, and “good riddance”.

This from people who don’t have a clue on how much directory companies contribute to the nation and the communities they serve at large. For over 150 years phone books have been the prime source for businesses to promote the products and advertise their wares, to grow their businesses, all resulting in revenue growth to the economy, jobs created, some competition stirred, and community growth. It is that old fashioned, low tech, ugly Yellow Pages that has been primarily responsible for this, more than any other type of media.

Who are these people who are so opposed to have a “one stop shop source” of vital information? Who are these kooks who hate businesses that advertise in the books, yet then when they need those tires, or hot water heaters, or kitchen remodelers, or carpet layers, or TV repairmen, or Appliance repairmen, or roofers…….they need a place to FIND them? Gee, guess which media has all of that in one place, and you don’t need to look at 1.5 million websites to find it either.

Who are these nuts that hate free commerce? I will guarantee you that most of them have never owned a business, tried to help their fellow neighbor, or even supported anything which would help the economy, because if they had then they would not be opposed to having a one source of information that is at their fingertips 24 hours a day which doesn’t require any special connections, fees or signups, doesn’t require an electric or mobile connection, and can realistically HELP them in their time of need for LOCAL products and services at a moment’s notice!

Why is our “One stop source of vital commerce information” now an un-wanted pest? Are the 40 commercials that everyone has to wade thru on that same blog or a TV show an “Unwanted pest?” Then why not ban all commercials! People with half a brain know that it is those business commercials support the very existence of the Internet and cable TV allowing them to be available at reasonable rates, and keeps them informed about products and services available.

Why is our “One stop link connecting Buyers and Sellers” an un-wanted pest? Why don’t they also call the 50 commercials an hour that you hear on the average radio station an “unwanted pest”? Because anyone who was not born on the dark side of the moon knows that it is marketing, advertising, and free commerce that built this great country. It allows radio stations to hire people who can provide a living for their families, to invest in business which support communities such as New Orleans where we are, and keep the cost of radio FREE so that anyone that wants to can turn on a radio station 24 hours a day. And it doesn’t cost you a dime! What keeps it free? Advertising!

I will guarantee you that the gentleman (and I use the term loosely) that is sponsoring this bill, has probably never run a business before going into politics, has never had to go to sleep at night worrying about how to keep his business viable, how he’s going keep the people he has employed (whose families look to that job for a living), or any of the other 1000 concerns small business owners have – which includes how do I best promote my business. Because if he had ever run a business larger than a lemonade stand, he would know that it is ADVERTISING that keeps America growing, moving, and prospering.

Instead, people like this just love to cause chaos, and then are somehow never around to clean up the mess when everyone realizes they have made a mistake.

3 responses to ““Unwanted pests”???”

Your article and the comment it quotes seem like a lot of uproar over a bill that basically says:
You don’t do what you say you will when people ask to not receive your product and we (the taxpayers) are sick of paying for the recycling costs of your product when people don’t use it.
It seems like common sense to not force something on people who do not want it. It’s not like the proposed legislation is forcing an opt-in situation. (I mean that would be letting the consumer of the product choose if they want to receive it. And maybe force the product to compete for the consumers attention. Gasp.)

@Eric: Your interest for lower recycling costs is compelling but I’m haven’t heard the same outrage for the newspaper publishers, the bottling companies, the packaging companies or any of the other sources which comprise the vast majority of the waste stream your local government has to deal with. The Yellow Pages component is a small percent of that.

The publishers and industry association have all adopted recycling programs and started mechanisms for people who don’t want the books to get off the list. So why put more useless laws on the books? And who’s going to enforce it? Do you really want you government tied up in a long drawn out battle over a phone book which someone says they did/didn’t want or asked to receive/not receive? Now that would eat up a lot of your tax dollars. Gasp.